Boulder is truly an amazing city. The people here swear by it. I’ve been here for a few months so far and I know that I’m not leaving anytime soon. There are three major things that contribute to my assurance: the people, accessibility to the outdoors, and the business culture.

From what I’ve noticed so far, the people in Boulder are awesome. Since I’ve been here I’ve found a group of people to play sand volleyball with twice a week, was welcomed in to an entrepreneur community that meets semimonthly, and have started hanging around with a fun startup-centric group that meets every so often to have drinks. Also, the community formed at the New Tech Meetups is awesome for meeting new people, finding jobs, or talking up your company. Overall, there is a huge sense of community here. Small communities with focused purposes extend in to other communities and eventually, everyone is a part of the largest community that is Boulder.

For those that don’t know, Boulder is bordered to the West by the Rocky Mountains. Nestled in to the foothills itself, Boulder lends itself to amazing activities and views. From almost anywhere in the city, the iconic Flatirons of Boulder are always in view and the trails that lead to their peaks are always open. The Chautauqua and Sanitas trials are reachable from most places in Boulder by a ten or so minute bike ride. The system of parks within the city is great as well. Its hard to go very far without running in to a well maintained and usable park. Other activities such as climbing, mountain and trail biking, backpacking, and water sports are all popular as well. The other outdoor activity that is popular here in Boulder that was rather new to me is community gardening. I hope to get my own plot next season.

Finally, the business culture in Boulder is overwhelmingly positive. It has a very strong focus on entrepreneurship and thus venture capital. This mix of interested and ambitious individuals with seasoned veterans from many industries, especially high technology and the internet, combines for awesome potential. It is hard to meet a person in Boulder that hasn’t or isn’t trying or succeeding at starting their own business. For example, a person that I randomly started conversing with at the BolderBoulder 10k had a work from home career and was also overnighting the creation of a business service to translate blueprints for multilingual construction crews.

All this being said, I feel like I have succeeded in finding a place that fits me right for my post-graduate life. I am inspired by the atmosphere here in Boulder and excited to make my own move in to the world of entrepreneurship, comfortable that this is the place to be.

P.S. :: If you want to get in touch with cool Boulder folk, check out Boulder+Me, a new project by Andrew Hyde to promote Boulder.

-Ryan Cook

A botanist by degree, developer by trade, and entrepreneur by aspiration, Ryan recently graduated from Miami University in Ohio and moved to Boulder to pursue his goals of using his multidisciplinary skills and interests to start businesses. You can get in touch with Ryan at ryan at wheretocaptain dot com or through his website :: where.to.captain?

Dynamit was honored as one of the “Best Places to Work” in 2010 & 2011 by Columbus Business First newspaper and Interactive Agency of the Year. Times are even better in 2012 and we’re hiring a Web/Graphic Designer for our aggressively growing team.

This is an exciting opportunity to work on cutting edge projects for well-known brands in a dynamic, entrepreneurial and highly creative environment. Please email resumes/cover letters and portfolio information (documents or links to online examples) to Gary Moneysmith via gmoney@dynamit.us.

A web/graphic designer on the Dynamit team will:

• Be well versed with Adobe Creative Suite: Strong knowledge of Photoshop, experience with Illustrator and InDesign.
• Have a strong understanding of Usability & Web Trends: Experience with user interface design, knowledge of best practices & examples of this in a portfolio or live site/application design. They will also be up-to-date on web trends and design tactics with examples.
• Have experience in user experience design (UXD) designing application and system interfaces. This experience is crucial for this position.
• Have Basic Programming Knowledge: We’re not looking for a developer here, but the designer should have the ability to design for web with a knowledge of the boundaries and how to design for execution by a programmer.
• Have a Strong Portfolio: We’d like to see much more web work than print.
• Be eager to learn, with a passion for design & the web. The designer should have a strong internal drive for industry knowledge and be committed to furthering the craft.

Experience is important, but personality is key. Our culture is what drives us, and we’re looking to build our team with someone who both fits and contributes to it.

The position is full time at our office in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package as well as a fun, high-energy, intellectually-stimulating work environment.

Benefits Include

• Competitive salary (compensation will be based on skills and experience)
• Fully paid medical/dental insurance for employees
• Paid parking
• Unlimited vacation time (within reason)
• Office bar + climbing wall — not recommended together

Don’t sit back. If you want to work in a fast paced work environment with great people who love what they do, apply today.

About Dynamit
Dynamit is a digital agency based in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio. We work with clients and brands on digital initiatives that include strategy, design, user experience and development. We influence communication and commerce. Client work includes Hilton Worldwide, Charley's Grilled Subs, McGraw-Hill, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), E-Z-GO, American Electric Power (AEP), Columbus College of Art & Design and the Ohio State Medical Center (OSUMC) to name but a few.